Medicare: A Prescription for the Future

As one of the largest entitlement programs in the biggest trouble, a solution to Medicare must be found--but the agreement stops there. Notable Republicans want to privatize Medicare through creating a voucher program thus forcing the elderly to by ever-increasingly priced plans with money they don't have. Democrats want a solution, but have yet to come up with a concrete picture--they simply know that the private sector isn't a part of it which is sending them down the wrong path.

Why is Medicare going down? First, the baby boom generation is reaching retirement age. This means there are less people paying into the system, and more people requiring care. Further, Medicare part B pays for the doctor and outpatient visits of the highest risk pool in our nation; but unlike every other health insurance company in the industry, Medicare does not have a younger, healthier population paying monthly premiums into the system to offset that cost.

We can learn from the private sector, without privatizing.My proposal: lower the buy-in age for Medicare part A and part B to 50. For ages 50-65, these individuals will have the option to buy into Part B at 50 percent of the total premium cost and then at the age of 65, their premium will automatically drop to the current 25 percent of the total premium cost. My plan will provide a much needed healthier portion of the public to pay into a system that is currently insuring the highest risk pool in our country, thus more accurately mirroring private sector models.